In the manufacture of tortillas, when the tortillas have been formed, the general tendency is to pile up the tortillas at different heights. Therefore, an apparatus that separates and individually places the tortillas on a band or conveyor is thus needed in order to prepare the tortillas for a subsequent processing operation, such as baking, frying, tearing the tortillas into strips, etc. Present automated techniques used to make tortillas require complex machines to replace the traditional manual production method or hinge press. Complex machines are also necessary to accumulate a certain quantity of tortillas to be used in subsequent processes or to separate the tortillas. Separating tortillas after manufacture and before storage is important since, without separating, storing the tortillas causes the tortillas to adhere to neighboring tortillas. Such adhesion diminishes the totillas' quality, creating a problem for the consumer.
Several techniques have been developed, such as the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,398 by Montemayor et al. The Montemayor technique describes an apparatus used to separate the tortillas contained in piles, where the tortilla at the top of a tortilla pile is removed by a drilled cylinder. A suction is produced in the interior of the drilled cylinder by a fan, causing the tortilla located at the top of the tortilla pile to adhere to an exterior surface of the drilled cylinder. The tortilla can then be subsequently deposited on a band or conveyor. However, the technique described in Montemayor is deficient because the described technique is based upon the use of a single cylinder, which is unworkable at a wide transfer station because the size of the drilled cylinder becomes critical. Additionally, the Montemayor technique does not provide a flexible and soft delivery onto the band or conveyor, which may damage the tortillas.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,156 by Brummett describes an apparatus to bend tortillas and make tacos with soft tortillas as well as “tostadas” (fried tortillas). Brummett describes an apparatus that accumulates the soft tortillas as well as the tostadas, which travel on a “V” conveyor. The tortillas are then taken from tortilla piles by a hollow head deposited between a pair of plates where the tortillas are compressed and heated. A mechanical finger moves downward to bend the tortillas and push the tortillas through the “V” conveyor. The Brummett apparatus also includes hot and cold food dispensing stations. As the tortilla travels on the conveyor, the tostadas are taken from piles. Particularly, a tostada is removed from the pile by a scraper that is inserted between a tostada at the bottom of the pile and the tostada thereabove. The lower tostada is released while the remainder of the pile remains supported. The released tostada travels through the “V” conveyor and passes under the hot and cold food dispensers. Therefore, Brummett describes taking a top tortilla from a tortilla pile by a hollow head. However, Brummett fails to describe a band that efficiently transfers individual tortillas from a tortilla pile and softly deposits the tortillas onto a conveyor.